Dr. Sri Vedachalam is Director, Water Equity and Climate Resilience, at ECT, Inc., where he works with communities to address their water quality and access challenges. He is a water policy specialist, and his work has covered national water issues such as affordability, aging infrastructure, extreme weather impacts, financing, public trust, and non-point source pollution. Prior to this role, he set up and grew the water program at the Environmental Policy Innovation Center, turning it from a one-person operation to a national powerhouse. During his stint as researcher at the Cornell University-based New York State Water Resources Institute, he experienced first-hand the beauty of the Great Lakes region.
He currently serves on the advisory board for the communications nonprofit Water Hub, and is a member of Blue Accounting’s Drinking Water work group facilitated by the Great Lakes Commission. Dr. Vedachalam is also the Editor for Urban Water at Global Water Forum, a resource for evidence-based, accessible, and open-access articles on freshwater governance. He was named a 2022 Top 10 Young Professional by Water & Wastes Digest. He holds a Ph.D. from The Ohio State University and lives with his wife and two kids in the Washington, DC metro area.